Apparatus for closing of wrapping bags or sleeves

ABSTRACT

Ties are wrapped round gathered ends of bags in that the ends of two strips of tie material supplied from rolls of such material are joined together and the strips are wrapped round the gathered bag end by moving the bag end towards the joined ends of the strips, and wherein the strips are brought and joined together at the other side of the gathered bag ends to form the tie. The tie is severed from the strips to leave the free ends joined together ready for the next cycle of operations to form another tie.

United States Patent 11 1 Clayton l Dec. 2. 1975 l l APPARATUS FOR CLOSING OF WRAPPING BAGS OR SLEEVES [75] Inventor: John Michael Clayton, Menston. Nr.

llkey. England [73] Assignee: Norpak Machines Limited. England [22] Filed: Apr. 3. i974 [21] Appl. No: 457,552

[52] US. Cl 53/138 A; 53/l98 A [51] Int. Cl. B658 6l/0O [58] Field of Seareh..... 53/3. 38. l34.. I35. I38 A.

53/1393. I80 M. 182 M. 196. i925 A {56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2.840.967 7/[958 Platt 53/l98 A 2 84l.935 7/l958 Krueger... 53/198 A X 2.867.066 l/l959 Platt 53H)?! A 2.867.067 H1959 Flatt 53fl93 A 3.(l45 4()-3 "NW6: Wilson 53/ l 8t! M 3.12l.-l(\8 lZ/lJfiS Casey 53/} X 3.783.585 l/l974 Hoyland 53. 198 A Primary I'.'.\uminerTravis S. McGehee Ari/Mun! liiumi'iicr-Jtihii Sipos Attorney. Agent. or FirmWo|f. Greenfield & Sackx 5? ABSTRACT Ties are wrapped round gathered ends of hugs in that the ends of two strips of tie material supplied from rolls of such material are joined together and the strips are wrapped round the gathered hag end by moving the hag end towards the joined ends of the strips. and wherein the strips are brought and joined together at the other Ride of the gathered hag ends to form the tie. The tie 1S severed from the trips to leave the free ends joined together ready for the next cycle of operations to form another lie.

7 Claims. 6 Drawing Figures US. Patent Dec. 2, 1975 Sheet 1 of2 3,922,834

U.S. Patent Dec. 2, 1975 Sheet 2 of2 3,922,834

APPARATUS FOR CLOSING OF WRAPPING BAGS OR SLEEVES This invention relates to a method of and apparatus for applying ties to hold closed bunched ends of wrapping bags or wrapping sleeves.

The application of a tie or tie means to hold closed the bag ends is commonly used in the packaging of bread. where each loaf is placed in an open ended bag, the end is gathered and bunched together and a tie means applied to hold the end thus closed. Although we know of no application we see no reason why this principle of gathering and tying should not be used at each end of say a wrapping sleeve which can be considered to be a bag with each end open.

The gathering and tying of open ends of wrappings however is always required to be automatic where the packaging of loaves of bread is concerned. because high speed baking machinery is now used extensively in the production of bread.

All existing gathering and tying machines are automatic but generally speaking are quite complicated making the number of tying operations per unit of cost low. making the price of the operation correspondingly high.

Furthermore, there is a demand for an effective nonmetallic tie which we believe we have provided. and which is within the subject of our co-pending British Application No. 1763/73 and an embodiment of such tie results from the process according to the present invention.

Furthermore. we believe that our method lends itself to the creation of cheap automatic machinery suitable for carrying out the method.

According to this invention there is provided a method of applying a tie to a gathered end of a wrapping bag or sleeve wherein a pair of strips of material capable of being joined together and having a pair of ends joined together, are wrapped round the gathered end and joined together to form a continuous tie band round the gathered end. and the strips forming the tie band severed from the remainders of the strips or leaving the ends of remainders of the strips joined together ready for a subsequent carrying out of the method.

Preferably. the severing will be at a point spaced from the gathered end so as to define a tie having an extension and being of a construction set forth in detail in our co-pending British Application No. l763/73.

The said strips are preferably in roll form and are mounted on spindles which are urged to rotate in opposite directions and such as to tend to wind up the strip materials thereon. By this means the strip ends will be held under tension at all times and this tension can be made use of to assist in the gathering of the bag or sleeve end. Unless there is any form of restraint or guide. the connected strip ends will remain in alignment and under tension.

At least one of said strips, and preferably both strips is or are adhesive strips such cellotape (registered trade mark) the strips beingjoined together adhesively in the aforesaid method.

The joining together of the strips may be performed by means of a pair of rollers. such rollers being adapted to pinch the strips together and also having knife means to sever the strips to separate each tie from the remainders of the strips.

The pair of rollers conveniently may have one or more cut outs to assist and enable the rollers to wrap 2 round the gathered end of the bag and have suitable knife means.

Also according to the invention there is provided apparatus for applying ties to the gathered ends of wrapping bags and sleeves comprising means for supporting two supplies of strip material which can be joined together. wrapping and strip joining means adapted to receive the joined ends of said two strips of material and wrap the strips round the gathered end of a bag or sleeve adjacent the joined ends and join the strips at the other side of the gathered and said joining means including severing means adapted to sever the joined strips leaving the gathered end wrapped with a tie made up of two strip lengths joined together, and leave the ends of the remainders of the strips joined together for the next wrapping operation.

Preferably. the means supporting the supplies are spring loaded tending to retract such supplies from the joining means.

The joining means may include a pair of rollers be tween which the strip supplies are fed. such rollers having peripheral and axial pinching regions which perform the sealing operation. Furthermore. the rollers may have cut outs to permit and assist in the wrapping round of the strip material. and a pinching region at the trailing edge of each of said cut outs. The severing means may comprise a knife for each pinching region. each knife being adapted to cut the joined tapes intermediate the ends of the associated pinching region.

Alternatively. where the strips are of heat scalable plastics material. the severing means may be a pair of sealing and severing dies. serving not only to sever the strips but also to join them together Embodiments of the present invention will now be described. by way of example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic side elevation of apparatus according to the invention. and for carrying out one preferred method according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a corresponding plan of the apparatus of HO. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to HO. 1, but shows the apparatus in a different position;

FIG. 4 shows. in perspective view, a package having a bag end tied by the method and apparatus of FIGS. 1 to 3;

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic side elevation of apparatus according to a second embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 4. showing a package having a bag end tied by the apparatus shown in FIG. 5.

Referring to the drawings. which are diagrammatic in nature, in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 the apparatus shown is for the tying of gathered bag ends after each bag has been filled with a loaf of bread. The apparatus operates on an automatic and repeating basis and receives the supply of the bagged loaves from a previous treatment apparatus such as a bag filling device. In FIG. 1, a single bag is indicated by reference numeral 10 and it will be observed that this bag is supported on a conveyor 12 which effects the feed of the bags in the direction of arrow 14.

The apparatus according to the invention is adapted to receive the packages one by one and to gather and tie the open ends of the bags. The apparatus is provided with a gathering device which is conventional in nature and includes a pair of spaced gathering forks 16 which travel in a generally rectangular path. In the position shown in FIG. I. the fork I6 is about to make a forward stroke, considering arrow 14 is the direction of travel. Upon reaching the end of this forward travel. the forks will drop and then return to a point under the initial po sition and eventually be raised back to the position shown in FIG. I. In moving forward in the direction of arrow I4. the forks gather the open end of the bag into bunched form as shown in FIG. I. As the forward movement continues the bunched end meets a pair of heat sealable plastic strips 18 and 20 which lie in a common vertical plane and are in alignment. Strip 18 is led from a roll of the strip material supported on a suitable spindle or mandrel located above the forks 16 whilst strip 20 is supplied from a similar roll of material on a similar mandrel located directly under the upper mandrel. These mandrels are preferably spring urged so as to tend to wind up the strip material and tension same as indicated by arrows 22 and 24. and the fact that the strip ends are sealed together at region 26. helps maintain the strip in a common plane.

It is at this region 26 that the gathered bag end meets the pair of strips. and the continued movement of the forks l6 pushes the gathered end and hence the strips 18 and 20 to the right in FIG. 1 towards a pair of heat seal rollers 28 and 30. As the movement forward of the forks continues so the strip material 18 and 20 will be unwound against the spring tension as indicated at 18A and 20A when the gathered end of the bag is in a cavity 32 defined by a pair of matching cut outs 28A and A in the rollers 28.

Reference should be made at this point to FIG. 2 which shows that the spacing between the forks I6 is greater than the width of the rollers 28 and 30 thereby enabling the forks to move past the rollers freely as indicated in chain dotted lines in FIG. 1.

The rollers 28 and 30 are symmetrically identical, the axis of symmetry being the path of movement of the forks 16.

Thus. the cut outs 28A and 30A equally define the cavity into which the gathered bag end is moved.

On the periphery of each roller and at the trailing end of the cut out 28A or 30A there is a heat sealing strip 28B and 308 respectively. As the rollers rotate as indi cated by the arrows. the sealing strips 28B and 303 will come together at which point they will trap between the plastic strips 18 and 20 and by the appropriate application of heat. heat seal such strips together thereby defining a continuous band which is wrapped round the gathered bag end holding same closed.

The rotation of the rollers continues by virtue of the continued forward feed of the tied bag end until two sealing and severing strips 28C and 30C come together as indicated in FIG. 3 and seal together the strips I8 and 20. but this time also severing the strips I8 and 20.

The ends of the strips I8 and 20 remain firmly sealed together, and by virtue of the spring loading thereon, return to the initial position shown in FIG. I whilst the tie as constituted by the band holding the gathered end of the bag and the strip length between the two sealing points forming an extension is now free of the plastic strip supplies. The finished product with its tie is as shown in FIG. 4.

With the release of the strips I8 and 20 after severing. the rollers 28 and 30, which also are spring loaded. as indicated by the circular arrows in FIG. 3, rotate backwards to the initial position shown in FIG. I. are

4 then ready to receive the next gathered end and perform another tying operation.

The apparatus and method described is extremely simple and achieves an effective tying ofgathered ends. A particular advantage of the invention is that the final sealing and severing step still leaves the ends of the strips 18 and 20 still sealed together so that the strips can be in position to enable the process to be repeated indefinitely. and automatically and at very high speeds.

The only power required for a simplified basic apparatus is the heating power to heat the sealing strips although the apparatus could be power driven.

The apparatus can be attached to existing machines quite simply although some modification may be required to the gathering forks to ensure that they can pass the rollers 28 and 30. FIG. 3 shows the gathering forks I6 in a downwardly displaced position relative to the path of forward movement thereof.

In the embodiment of the invention described thus far. strips of heat scalable plastics material are used. requiring the use of heat sealing dies. Instead of using heat scalable strips, contact adhesive strips. or one contact adhesive strip can be used, and the rollers 28 and 30, suitably modified to pinch the adhesively joined tapes and sever same where joined together to separate fully formed ties from the remainders of of the strips. yet leaving the remainders of the strips adhesively joined together.

FIG. 5 illustrates another embodiment of apparatus according to the invention. In this embodiment. two tapes or strips 40, 42 which can be adhesively joined together are used. and modified rollers 44, 46, which turn in one direction only during the operation, are used. Otherwise the gathering and feeding of the bag ends is the same described in relation to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3.

The tapes 40. 42 are maintained under tension as in the FIGS. I to 3 embodiment. and the free ends are joined together and are held pinched together at 48, the contact point between rollers 44, 46. The roller peripheries are divided into six equal arcs by six knives 44A in the case of roller 44 and slots 46A in the case of roller 46. As the rollers 44, 46 rotate in use as shown by arrows 50, the knives 44A engage slots 46A respectively. In the position shown in FIG. 5, a knife 44A is shown engaged in a slot 46A, the ends of tapes 40, 42 are held pinched by the rollers 44. 46, each of which has a sleeve or coating of resilient material so that the knives 44 remain under the level of the resilient material until the nip between the rollers is reached at which point each knife projects into the associated slot 46A to sever the tapes therebetween.

A gathered bag end is shown at 52 wrapped between the tapes 40, 42 and held in a cavity defined partly by a cut out 54 in roller 44 and partly by a cut out 56 in roller 46.

Each are defined between a pair of knives 44A on roller 44 has a cut out 54 at the same place on the arc. and each are between a pair of slots on roller 46 has a cut out 56 at the same place. so that as rotation of the rollers proceeds during operation, the cut outs 54. 56 repeatedly come together to form cavities on which individual bag ends. wrapped with tape. are formed. Between each adjacent pair of cut outs 54 and each pair of cut outs 56 there is defined a pinching region. broken only by a knife 44A on the one hand and a slot 46A on the other hand. The rollers 44, 46 are geared together to ensure that they maintain a constant angular relationship and the drive to the rollers is through a Geneva type motion, ensuring that the rollers index in a step by step fashion, each step being exactly equal to one arc between a pair of adjacent knives 44A or slots 46A.

Operation of the apparatus is simple. With the feed of the gathered bag end to the position shown in FIG. 5, the rollers 44, 46 are driven in the direction of arrows 50 (the signal for initiation of the drive can be derived from the motion of the gathered end 52, or the means driving it) until the next knife 44A and slot 46a are in the position shown in FIG. 5.

In this cycle of operations, the tapes 40, 42 are pinched together over the whole of the arc lengths between adjacent knives 44A and slots 46A, except for cut outs 52 and 56, and a tie is formed round the gathered end of the bag as shown in FIG. 6, and the bag, with its tie passes from the machine. The remaining ends of the tapes 40, 42 are held pinched by the rollers 44, 46 for the next cycle of operations.

This method has all the advantages of the FIGS. 1 to 3 embodiment, and additionally is simpler than the FIGS. 1 to 3 embodiment in the respect that it does not require that the rollers 44, 46 should be spring loaded.

Where adhesively formed tapes are used, there is provided the advantage that one of the tapes may simply be of paper, which can carry printing, coding or the like, and may have a longitudinally extending region, eg an edge region, which does not adhere to the other tape, thereby simplifying removal of the tie from the gathered end when desired.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for applying ties to the gathered ends of wrapping bags and sleeves comprising 1. means for supporting two supplies of strip material which can be joined together,

2. wrapping and strip joining means adapted to receive the joined ends of the two strips of material, wrap the strips around the gathered end of the wrapping bag or sleeve adjacent said joined ends, and join the strips at the other side of the gathered end, said wrapping and joining means including a pair of rollers between which the strips and gathered end are received, the rollers being adapted to press the strips together to join them, each roller having a plurality of peripheral arcuate segments corresponding with a plurality of peripheral arcuate segments on the other roller, the peripheral arcuate segments being terminated by knives or slots arranged to cause a knife on one roller to be received in a slot in the other roller when the rollers rotate whereby the joined strips interposed between the rollers are severed, leaving the gathered end with a tie formed by two strips joined together and leaving the ends of the strips from which the tie 6 is severed joined together for the next wrapping operation.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rollers are of the same diameter and each roller has a peripheral cut-out intermediate the ends of each arcuate segment, the cut-outs being disposed to come together when the rollers rotate to define cavities in which the gathered ends locate in passing between the rollers.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the peripheral arcuate segments of the rollers are of equal length.

and the apparatus further includes gear means interconnecting the rollers to cause the rollers to remain in constant angular relationship, and

means for driving the rollers to cause them to ad vance from one arcuate segment to another and rest in position to receive the gathered end of the wrapping bag or sleeve and the joined strips.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3, wherein at each rest position, a knife of one roller is engaged in a slot of the other roller.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the rollers are coated with a resilient material.

6. Apparatus for applying ties to the gathered ends of wrapping bags and sleeves comprising 1. means for supporting two supplies of strip material which can be joined by heating.

2. wrapping and strip joining means adapted to receive the joined ends of the two strips of material. wrap the strips around the gathered end of the wrapping bag or sleeve adjacent said joined ends, and join the strips at the other side of the gathered end. said wrapping and strip joining means including a pair of rollers between which the strips and gathered end are received, the rollers each having a peripheral cut-out which come together to form a cavity in which the gathered end locates as it passes between the rollers. each of the rollers having a pair of spaced apart heat sealing bars for joining the two strips by cooperating with the corresponding bars on the other roll to press the strips together while applying heat thereto, whereby as the rollers rotate a first pair of sealing bars joins the strips wrapped around the gathered end and then a second pair of sealing bars again joins the strips and causes the tie to be severed from the strips while leaving the strips joined together at their ends.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6, further including spring means for causing the rollers to return to an initial position after a tie is severed from the strips, and

tensioning means for maintaining the strips under tension whereby the strips are withdrawn from the rollers as the rollers return to their initial position. 

1. Apparatus for applying ties to the gathered ends of wrapping bags and sleeves comprising
 1. means for supporting two supplies of strip material which can be joined by heating,
 1. means for supporting two supplies of strip material which can be joined together,
 2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rollers are of the same diameter and each roller has a peripheral cut-out intermediate the ends of each arcuate segment, the cut-outs being disposed to come together when the rollers rotate to define cavities in which the gathered ends locate in passing between the rollers.
 2. wrapping and strip joining means adapted to receive the joined ends of the two strips of material, wrap the strips around the gathered end of the wrapping bag or sleeve adjacent said joined ends, and join the strips at the other side of the gathered end, said wrapping and strip joining means including a pair of rollers between which the strips and gathered end are received, the rollers each having a peripheral cut-out which come together to form a cavity in which the gathered end locates as it passes between the rollers, each of the rollers having a pair of spaced apart heat sealing bars for joining the two strips by cooperating with the corresponding bars on the other roll to press the strips together while applying heat thereto, whereby as the rollers rotate a first pair of sealing bars joins the strips wrapped around the gathered end and then a second pair of sealing bars again joins the strips and causes the tie to be severed from the strips while leaving the strips joined together at their ends.
 2. wrapping and strip joining means adapted to receive the joined ends of the two strips of material, wrap the strips around the gathered end of the wrapping bag or sleeve adjacent said joined ends, and join the strips at the other side of the gathered end, said wrapping and joining means including a pair of rollers between which the strips and gathered end are received, the rollers being adapted to press the strips together to join them, each roller having a plurality of peripheral arcuate segments corresponding with a plurality of peripheral arcuate segments on the other roller, the peripheral arcuate segments being terminated by knives or slots arranged to cause a knife on one roller to be received in a slot in the other roller when the rollers rotate whereby the joined strips interposed between the rollers are severed, leaving the gathered end with a tie formed by two strips joined together and leaving the ends of the strips from which the tie is severed joined together for the next wrapping operation.
 3. Apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the peripheral arcuate segments of the rollers are of equal length, and the apparatus further includes gear means interconnecting the rollers to cause the rollers to remain in constant angular relationship, and means for driving the rollers to cause them to advance from one arcuate segment to another and rest in position to receive the gathered end of the wrapping bag or sleeve and the joined strips.
 4. Apparatus according to claim 3, wherein at each rest position, a knife of one roller is engaged in a slot of the other roller.
 5. Apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the rollers are coated with a resilient material.
 6. Apparatus for applying ties to the gathered ends of wrapping bags and sleeves comprising
 1. means for supporting two supplies of strip material which can be joined by heating,
 2. wrapping and strip joining means adapted to receive the joined ends of the two strips of material, wrap the strips around the gathered end of the wrapping bag or sleeve adjacent said joined ends, and join the strips at the other side of the gathered end, said wrapping and strip joining means including a pair of rollers between which the strips and gathered end are received, the rollers each having a peripheral cut-out which come together to form a cavity in which the gathered end locates as it passes between the rollers, each of the rollers having a pair of spaced apart heat sealing bars for joining the two strips by cooperating with the corresponding bars on the other roll to press the strips together while applying heat thereto, whereby as the rollers rotate a first pair of sealing bars joins the strips wrapped around the gathered end and then a second pair of sealing bars again joins the strips and causes the tie to be severed from the strips while leaving the strips joined together at their ends.
 7. Apparatus according to claim 6, Further including spring means for causing the rollers to return to an initial position after a tie is severed from the strips, and tensioning means for maintaining the strips under tension whereby the strips are withdrawn from the rollers as the rollers return to their initial position. 